Europe ready as the gloves come off against United States in Solheim Cup

Morgan Pressel, the sun-kissed Floridian blonde who appeared to have stepped
straight from a high school prom, was at her most expressive yesterday
through a two-word declaration. “Go, USA,” the 23 year-old cried. The
starting gun for this 12th Solheim Cup, and quite possibly the fourth in
succession to culminate in star-spangled triumphalism, had been fired.

Patriot: US Solheim Cup player Michelle Wie fixes her bandana with caddie Brendan Woolley during a practice round at Kileen CastlePhoto: AP

The degree of patriotic fervour among Rosie Jones’s American players was shown best by the gifts they brought here to Killeen Castle, a deceptively sleepy outpost 10 miles north-west of Dublin.

Their captain, seeking to instil a little belligerence ahead of the biennial dust-up with Europe, had bought all her players red, white and blue head covers — shaped like boxing gloves. As a metaphor for the visiting nation’s ferocious resolve to win this event, it was apt.

If you thought the Ryder Cup contained too much raucousness for most golfing palates, then it has nothing on its female equivalent. Such Solheim stars as Paula Creamer, the Californian who in 2005 swatted Laura Davies 7 & 5 aged just 19, are all but groomed to whoop and holler to their heart’s content.

On the eve of competition, a combative Evans was even seeking to gain an edge in the phoney war.

Claiming surprise that Suzann Pettersen, the veteran Norwegian, would not be leading Europe out for this morning’s foursomes, she told opposite number Alison Nicholas: “I was kind of going on what you have done before. That didn’t work out! Strike one. But I’ve got heavy hitters in every match, so I’m not worried about it.”

Indeed, there are few starrier double acts in the women’s game than that of Michelle Wie and Cristie Kerr, the duo whom Evans is sending out first, in the hope of seizing an early point at the expense of Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and Anna Nordqvist. The mystery is why she feels the need to be so bellicose about it.

The US have won the previous three instalments — the last by an emphatic 16-12 at Sugar Grove, Illinois — to invite suspicion that the Solheim Cup is too one-sided.

Put it down to the Dottie Pepper syndrome. Pepper, a feisty 46 year-old who gained six Solheim caps, was the original aggressor in this environment. In one notorious incident, she watched as Davies missed a critical putt on the 18th in 1998, only to shout out “Yes!” Hauled up by the Europeans for a flagrant breach of etiquette, she was unrepentant, replying, “I really don’t care”.

Such memories simmer to this day. Annika Sorenstam, that model of Scandinavian serenity, has been appointed as Europe’s assistant captain this week, but at the height of US-Euro tensions she took a punch bag into the team room and plastered a picture of Pepper’s face on it. “Annika actually stabbed it,” Davies recalled. “So that was quite contentious. We enjoyed doing that.”

At least the host side are mustering some defiance of their own. Karen Stupples, the straight-talking Kentish player who surged to prominence with victory at the 2004 Open, was eager to herald Europe’s resurgence: “This year we’re all playing well. We have a better chance as a team, so there’s not the same kind of pressure.”

Evidence would seem to support her confidence. The Europe team’s Nordic backbone of Hjorth, Pettersen and Gustafson boast multiple major wins between them. Of Pettersen’s three titles this season, one came at the Irish Open, on this very course.

Equally, to study the American line-up is to perceive a rare vulnerability.

Kerr possesses a poor record in Solheim Cup foursomes, while Brittany Lang has never so much won on the LPGA Tour. The balance is tantalising. As the opening address by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, resonated across the valleys of County Meath last night, one could hardly wait for hostilities to commence.